Blog Review of Boots No7 Beatifully Matte Foundation and shade selection using the Match Made service. Made for “All day velvet matte perfection”. With photos and swatches.No7 isn’t a brand I’ve got much experience with. I have to come clean, I’ve always walked by No7 and rejected it for not looking jazzy enough. There’s something mumsy about No7’s image. If you compare it to, say, Benefit, it doesn’t have the same pizazz.

But, the more I learn about the brand, the more I’m willing to eat my words. No7 launched in 1935, so called because the number 7 is associated with perfection. In 2012 they had an expensive relaunch and ploughed their money into research and came up with their famous Lift and Illuminate serum and Match Made service. The Match Made foundation shade matching service is extensively researched, Boots measured the skin tones of over 2,000 women to come up with their foundation shade range. The fabulous Lisa Eldridge is a consultant for No7 and helps to develop their makeup. If you want to read more about No7’s history check out this in depth Article. No7’s wealth of expertise and research is turning my head, I can tell you. It’s only because I’m shallow that I haven’t been all over it like a rash.

No7’s Beautifully Matte Foundation has had some good write ups, so it seemed an excellent first No7 product to try. I got matched with shade Deeply Beige using the Match Made machine. The No7 assistant just removed the makeup I was already wearing and used the hand held Match Made machine to take a shade. It took about 4 seconds.

The machine came up with Deeply Beige. This was a darker shade than I was expecting, but then I probably have caught the sun recently. Deeply beige is a medium tan shade with neutral undertones. The shade selection for Beautifully Matte tends towards the cool and neutral shades.

The packaging is fine, like I said No7 doesn’t go for bells and whistles. It does have a pump though, praise be!

I love the finish and coverage. It works perfectly for my oily, spot prone skin. The finish is near matte, it’s less Mattifying than Infallible Pro Matte by L’Oreal (which is the mattest foundation going) and it looks really natural. True enough, my skin looks velvety.
The coverage is medium to full. It does a good job of covering pigmentation and acne scars. You might want a bit of concealer for really dark spots. 

The other appealing aspect of Beautifully Matte is how light it feels. There’s no heaviness or stickiness, it doesn’t make my face itch. If you compare it to Estée Lauder Doublewear it has a much lighter, more natural feel.

Boots No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation Overview-

 Pros-

• A lovely velvety matte finish
• Medium to full natural coverage 
• Contains Salicylic acid- an effective exfoliant for acneic skin

Cons-

• I found the shade selection perfectly fine, but apparently there isn’t so much choice for those with warm skin tones
• Contains alcohol which some might find drying

Beautifully Matte is an ideal daytime foundation for oily and combination skin. It looks natural, feels comfortable and gives great coverage. I’ve been wearing it every day since I got it and I have a strong feeling I’m going to be buying it again.

Available from Boots.com
Beautifully Matte with the rest of my makeup on